Quite a pair
by 1Doctor
Summary: After the Doctor leaves Donna, he enters a lonely TARDIS and finds himself wishing for one thing he never thought he would.


'Quite a pair'

The Doctor walked slowly back towards the controls of the TARDIS. He absent-mindedly pushed a few buttons, pulled a few levers and twisted a few knobs. He didn't care where he went, as long as it was somewhere else. Anywhere but Earth.

As the TARDIS ended its flight through the Time Vortex and materialised, the Doctor found himself collapsed on the floor, back against one of the many coral-like structures, clutching Rose's jacket. He fought to hold back tears, but as he lifted her purple top and caught a whiff of her scent, he did the very thing he had told Rose not to. He gave in.

'Rose! Rose Tyler!' he screamed, tears streaming down his face. 'I'm sorry! I said I'd look after you, protect you. Now look at us! Separated. Forever. That's one forever I didn't want.' His voice lowering with every word, as he struggled to regain control of himself, frightened of how much he was affected by her, even now. 'I love you Rose. I love you so much. My life is empty. My hearts are breaking. My mind is blank. I did not say. Why? Why did I not say? ROSE TYLER, I LOVE YOU!' He shouted the last bit, clutching her top to him, breathing in her lingering fragrance, crying silent tears that had been threatening since he had left her in Bad Wolf Bay.

As the Doctor began to become aware of his surroundings again, he sat up slowly, fingering the zip of her coat.

'I'm dying. I feel dead,' the Doctor whispered. 'But I can not die. Not yet anyway. Physical pain and critical injuries cause me to regenerate, but this is far worse. Yet here I sit; in the same body, with the same broken hearts, wishing to be human, just so I can die. Die of broken hearts.'

The Doctor suddenly stood up. There in front of him was Rose. Not the real one, but his Rose none the less. A ghost-like vision of her stood by the consoles.

'Right, OK, um not sure if this is actually working, but hey! I hate these things! Just feels like I'm talking to myself! Well technically I guess I am, naturally the TARDIS too, but I never understood technically! Anyway, this message is for you Doctor, obviously! I guess you're probably telling me to stop rambling and get to the point, so here goes! This is emergency thingy number two! Bet you didn't think I could do this did you Doctor?! Obviously the TARDIS must like me!' She winked, causing the Doctor to almost smile, recovering slightly from the shock of seeing Rose again.

'Guess you're probably wondering when I did this huh? Well the original one I did after the whole drama with Cassandra taking over my body, and then I redid it while you were in Versailles with … her.' The Doctor winced as he saw the pained look on her face as she remembered Madame de Pompadour. He hated himself for leaving Rose and hurting her. 'After we got off the Impossible Planet, I changed the message totally. There's nothing like losing the most important person in your world to make you realise that they are! But this final message I recorded when we were in Torchwood Tower, after you took my Mum instead of me. I don't know why, but I just had to do this before I could leave. It seems like the whole of time and space is against us; the Oncoming Storm and Bad Wolf. We make quite a pair huh?' the Doctor just stood there, nodding, with fresh tears running silently down his cheeks. 'I guess I just wanted to say thank you, for everything you've taught, shown and given me. It's meant more to me than anything, and of course the knowledge that I did finally beat you at something! Don't think I've overlooked the fact that you still owe me 20 quid!! I won't ever forget you, and you better not either! But do one thing for me; have a fantastic life and be happy please, whatever you do. I love you too much to see you like you probably are now. As I said, it's better with two! You'll always have me, and I you. Nothing is impossible, remember that Doctor. Remember this also: I will love you forever my Doctor.' Rose smiled her amazing smile and with a flash of sadness and tears creeping into her chocolate brown eyes, she was gone.

The Doctor stood frozen, staring at the spot where Rose had been. Slowly he moved towards the console and saved her message. He smiled sadly as he saw the post-it notes Rose had stuck around the screen, in her attempts to write Gallifreyan. He spotted her ring placed on top of one of the controls. As he reached it and picked it up, he suddenly realised that Rose was right.

'I won't forget you Rose. I'll live my life for you. I'll find a way back to you and tell you everything. I won't give in. I'll keep fighting, for us. I love you Rose, forever.'

The Doctor placed her ring on his finger and opened the TARDIS doors. He smiled sadly and stepped out onto the planet Barcelona.


End file.
